Five-percent tax break isn't always the solution

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What amounts to a 5 percent sale, they say, isn't enough to offset the cost of their time on a day-long, crowd-hampered trip to the store.

And though you've never seen a statewide sale like this, the savings don't completely counter school-mandated supply lists that run as high as $100 per child and include items like classroom tissues formerly provided by schools.

The upshot: your ballooning cost of school supplies could be mitigated by as much as $10 per child.

At Oakview Elementary School, where Sheila Suitt will send her fifth-grader this year, a child's personal supply of antibacterial soap is a must-buy while parents are also expected to help pay for communal classroom items like chalk and paper towels.

The $50 to $90 cost for supplies per child is like another tax, she says, and some parents complain every year. "It's all about the budget cut" is the message they get.

"One year it was like Kleenex," Suitt said, "and I thought, 'Well, you know, they need a lot of extra Kleenex because cold season comes.' But then things just built on every year."

With a moratorium on sales taxes for specific items, the state is aiming to blunt the blow, said Department of Revenue spokesman Danny Brazell.

Suitt has decided the sheer frenzy of the shopping weekend isn't worth it, mounting expenses notwithstanding.

Sale on garters

Any shopper qualifies for the tax-free purchases, though Brazell said the benefit is clearly aimed at parents paying ever-bigger sums for school supplies. Brazell himself has stalled until the August weekend to buy a computer, a qualifying capital purchase where a 5 percent savings will save him significant money.

"The typical family doesn't save that much," he said, "but the fact that they're able to save on anything certainly makes it worthwhile."

By "anything" he means a lot — corset shoppers get a break, for instance, but not wig hunters.

The Department of Revenue releases detailed lists to show exactly what, and what doesn't, qualify for tax-exempt purchase under state law.

Galoshes, garters and girdles explicitly qualify. Corset lace, too. And a beach cape.

When legislators decided clothes were legitimate school items, Brazell said, exact items had to be specified for such a broad category, down to swimming caps (yes) and helmets (no).

He hears the question about intimate items a lot.

"Just about anything that fits the category of being clothes, including negligees, fall under that umbrella," he said.

It would also seem a good time for 1980s throwback costume. Qualifying for tax-exempt status are bandannas, leotards and "shoulder pads for dresses," in addition to support hosiery, according to the state list.

The most frequent complaint received by the department, he said, is that small refrigerators — a college staple — aren't exempt. Brazell notes that the department has a public hearing about a month after the holiday each year to consider items that should be added to the list.

No one has ever shown up, he said.

Waning interest

The response from the public has waned over the last four years, in part because of the stretch of poor economic conditions and partly because "the novelty's worn off a little bit, to be honest," Brazell said.

The collective savings of state shoppers during last year's three-day holiday was $2.3 million, according to state figures, or a little more than 50 cents for each state resident. That was down from $3.6 million the first year.

Also, some school districts are starting classes before this year's holiday goes into effect, and Brazell doesn't know how that will affect buyers' willingness to do their school shopping over those three days.

But the idea of a tax moratorium, pushed by then-Gov. Jim Hodges in 2000, is now law and isn't likely to change, Brazell said. And though the holiday means a loss of revenue for state coffers, it ends up drawing more people into stores where they also buy non-qualifying items.

"It's hard to paint a negative here when we are seeing some increase" in shopping, he said.

A call for Kleenex

Suitt's two high school children cost her about $90 each for school supplies, not counting fees for yearbooks, for example, then extracurricular expenses. Her elementary school child costs $50 or $60, she said, although "when they run out they'll call you and ask for more Kleenex."

Last year, she saved about $30 for her three children combined during the holiday, "but considering that I was gone all day and I was ready to pull my hair out, it was hardly worth it," she said, factoring in the value of her time and the stress level.

Her tactic now: buy a little at a time all summer long. Suitt said she blames imprudent school spending for the underlying problem.

"If money was spent more efficiently this wouldn't be a problem," she said. "You know, when you and I went to school they seemed to have the basic supplies for us."